Federal Funding for Research Drops by 9% in FY 2011

Current-dollar federal obligations for research decreased 9.0%, from $63.7 billion in FY 2010 to $58.0 billion in FY 2011, according to data from the National Science Foundation (NSF).[2] This decline was the result of the last of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds being obligated in FY 2010, which accounted for $5.7 billion (8.9%) of research obligations in FY 2010. Research obligations are estimated to remain relatively flat at $58.1 billion in FY 2012, and they are projected to increase by $1.9 billion (3.3%) to $60.0 billion in FY 2013.

In inflation-adjusted terms, federal obligations for research fell 10.7% in FY 2011, following a 0.9% decline in FY 2010. Estimated research obligations continued falling in FY 2012 by 1.8% before edging up by 1.6%, according to FY 2013 projections (table 1).

TABLE 1. Federal obligations for research and development and R&D plant, by character of work: FY 2009–13

Character of work

2009

2010

2011

2012 preliminary

2013 projected

2009

2010

2011

2012 preliminary

2013 projected

Current $millions

Constant 2005 $millions

All R&D and R&D planta

144,758

146,968

139,662

139,159

141,176

131,003

131,786

122,812

120,151

119,905

ARRA

10,081

9,049

na

na

na

9,123

8,114

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

134,677

137,919

139,662

139,159

141,176

121,880

123,672

122,812

120,151

119,905

R&D

141,090

140,355

135,491

134,786

136,472

127,683

125,856

119,144

116,375

115,910

ARRA

8,714

6,621

na

na

na

7,886

5,937

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

132,376

133,734

135,491

134,786

136,472

119,797

119,919

119,144

116,375

115,910

Research

63,692

63,728

58,024

58,050

59,969

57,640

57,145

51,024

50,121

50,933

ARRA

7,727

5,702

na

na

na

6,993

5,113

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

55,965

58,026

58,024

58,050

59,969

50,647

52,032

51,024

50,121

50,933

Basic

32,879

31,795

29,314

29,426

30,066

29,755

28,511

25,777

25,407

25,536

ARRA

5,116

2,667

na

na

na

4,630

2,391

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

27,764

29,128

29,314

29,426

30,066

25,126

26,119

25,777

25,407

25,536

Applied

30,813

31,933

28,710

28,624

29,903

27,885

28,634

25,246

24,714

25,397

ARRA

2,611

3,035

na

na

na

2,363

2,721

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

28,202

28,897

28,710

28,624

29,903

25,522

25,912

25,246

24,714

25,397

Development

77,398

76,627

77,467

76,736

76,502

70,043

68,711

68,121

66,255

64,975

ARRA

987

918

na

na

na

893

823

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

76,411

75,708

77,467

76,736

76,502

69,150

67,887

68,121

66,255

64,975

R&D plant

3,668

6,613

4,171

4,373

4,705

3,319

5,930

3,668

3,776

3,996

ARRA

1,368

2,428

na

na

na

1,238

2,177

na

na

na

Non-ARRA

2,300

4,185

4,171

4,373

4,705

2,081

3,753

3,668

3,776

3,996

na = not applicable.

ARRA = American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

a Beginning in FY 2011, Department of Defense totals include additional classified R&D projects not previously reported by its subagencies.

NOTES: Gross domestic product implicit price deflators for 2005 were used to convert current to constant dollars. Detail may not sum to total due to rounding.

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.

Figures for FY 2011 are actual amounts, those for FY 2012 are preliminary, and those for FY 2013 are projected. For the remainder of this report, discussions of changes in funding across years are in terms of inflation-adjusted (or constant) dollars unless stated otherwise.

Total Research and Development by Agency

Total federal constant-dollar R&D obligations decreased 5.3% to $119.1 billion between FY 2010 and FY 2011. This decline is primarily due to the last of the ARRA funds ($5.9 billion) having been obligated in FY 2010 (table 1). Even absent the ARRA obligations, R&D decreased by $775 million (0.6%) in FY 2011. R&D obligations were estimated to decrease 2.3% to $116.4 billion in FY 2012 and were projected to decrease 0.4% to $115.9 billion in FY 2013.

In FY 2011, six federal departments and agencies accounted for 96.0% of FY 2011 total federal R&D dollars: the Department of Defense (DOD) (55.5% of total R&D obligations), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (22.8%), the Department of Energy (DOE) (7.3%), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (4.8%), NSF (3.8%), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) (1.7%) (table 2).

Federal Funding for Research by Agency

The six departments and agencies that accounted for most federal R&D dollars in FY 2011 also accounted for most (92.3%) of FY 2011 total federal research dollars. However, their research shares differed considerably from their R&D shares, reflecting the emphasis their varying missions place on research versus development: HHS (53.0% of total research obligations), DOE (12.7%), DOD (11.4%), NSF (8.9%), USDA (3.7%), and NASA (2.7%) (table 3).

Basic Research

Basic research obligations decreased 9.6% to $25.8 billion between FY 2010 and FY 2011. ARRA funds accounted for $2.4 billion of FY 2010's $28.5 billion basic research total. Even without the ARRA funds, basic research obligations decreased by 1.3% in FY 2011. Basic research obligations were estimated to decrease 1.4%, to $25.4 billion in FY 2012 and were projected to increase by 0.5% in FY 2013 to $25.5 billion. Basic research obligations accounted for 21.0% of total R&D and R&D plant in FY 2011 (table 1).

Applied Research

Federal obligations for applied research decreased 11.8% to $25.2 billion between FY 2010 and FY 2011. Even without the FY 2010 ARRA funds, applied research decreased by 2.6% in FY 2011. Applied research obligations were estimated to decrease 2.1% between FY 2011 and FY 2012 to $24.7 billion and were projected to increase 2.8% in FY 2013 to $25.4 billion. Applied research obligations accounted for 20.6% of total R&D and R&D plant in FY 2011 (table 1).

Research by Broad Field of Science and Engineering

Six of the broad fields of science and engineering experienced decreased federal research funding between FY 2010 and FY 2011. The two fields experiencing the largest decreases were life sciences (down $4.5 billion, or 14.9%) and engineering (down $1.1 billion, or 11.0%). Two broad fields saw increased federal research funding between FY 2010 and FY 2011: social sciences (rose $37 million, or 3.4%) and other sciences not elsewhere classified (rose $0.5 billion, or 20.7%).[3]

In FY 2011, three broad fields of science and engineering received 77.4% of FY 2011 total federal research dollars: life sciences (50.7% of total research obligations), engineering (17.3%), and physical sciences (9.4%) (table 4).

TABLE 4. Federal obligations for research, by broad field of science and engineering: FY 2009–13

Character of work

2009

2010

2011

2012 preliminary

2013 projected

2009

2010

2011

2012 preliminary

2013 projected

Current $millions

Constant 2005 $millions

All fields

63,692

63,728

58,024

58,050

59,969

57,640

57,145

51,024

50,121

50,933

Computer sciences and mathematics

3,612

3,412

3,374

3,451

3,751

3,269

3,060

2,967

2,980

3,186

Engineering

10,285

11,081

10,057

9,873

10,743

9,308

9,936

8,844

8,524

9,124

Environmental sciences

3,751

3,339

3,207

3,079

3,140

3,395

2,994

2,820

2,658

2,667

Life sciences

33,267

33,909

29,409

29,061

29,152

30,106

30,406

25,861

25,092

24,760

Physical sciences

5,821

5,871

5,427

5,574

5,950

5,268

5,265

4,772

4,813

5,054

Psychology

2,086

2,156

1,887

1,914

1,923

1,888

1,933

1,659

1,653

1,633

Social sciences

1,157

1,197

1,262

1,203

1,253

1,047

1,073

1,110

1,039

1,064

Other sciences, nec

3,713

2,763

3,401

3,894

4,058

3,360

2,478

2,991

3,362

3,447

nec = not elsewhere classified.

NOTES: Gross domestic product implicit price deflators for 2005 were used to convert current to constant dollars. Detail may not sum to total due to rounding.

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development.

Data Notes

The data presented here are from the NSF Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development for FYs 2011–13. The 27 federal agencies that report R&D obligations to the survey submitted actual obligations for FY 2011, preliminary data for FY 2012, and projected data for FY 2013. Data were requested from agencies beginning in March 2012. Agencies later revise the preliminary data based on actual changes in the funding levels of R&D programs. Further, agencies may provide changes in prior-year data to reflect program reclassifications or other data corrections.

In order to enable reporting from the Department of Defense's subagencies engaged in classified R&D projects, starting with the FY 2011–13 survey cycle the DOD subagencies are reported as an aggregate total under Other defense agencies.

Definitions of research, development, and R&D plant as used in this InfoBrief are provided in the technical notes that accompany the detailed statistical tables report for this survey. For the prior-year report, see http://nsf.gov/statistics/nsf13326/.

The full set of detailed tables from this survey will be available in the report Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2011–13 at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/fedfunds/. Individual detailed tables from the FY 2011–13 survey may be available in advance of the full report. For more information, contact the author.

[2]Obligations represent the amounts for orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period, regardless of when the funds were appropriated and when future payment of money is required.

[3] "Other sciences not elsewhere classified" is used for multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary projects that cannot be classified within one of the broad fields of science.

National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering StatisticsFederal Funding for Research Drops by 9% in FY 2011
Arlington, VA (NSF 13-336) [September 2013]